->''"Take me to your house of shame\\Easy on your body when you got no name\\Hold me like you know me I'm a falling star\\Catch me if you can\\Show me the way inside."''-->-- '''Music/TheBeeGees''', "House Of Shame"

There's a funny thing about heights in ActionAdventure stories: the range of heights which are fatal to fall from is surprisingly narrow. If you fall from too low, you naturally won't strike the ground with enough force to injure yourself; if you fall from ''too high'', you're more likely to be rescued than to actually hit the ground.

Most often, the rescue comes from some sort of aircraft: The pilot dives sharply in pursuit of their falling friend, and either positions the craft underneath to catch them, in which case they land uninjured [[NotTheFallThatKillsYou regardless of how fast they were falling]], or else flies parallel to them, and someone pulls them back in by the wrist. (In the latter case, the diving craft will just barely pull out of the dive before smacking into the ground.) This can be accomplished even if you fell ''from that aircraft''.

Alternatively, an individual with the superpower of {{Flight}}, or some kind of {{giant robot|HandsSaveLives}}, or just a mean BuildingSwing may swoop in to catch you, possibly with the aid of VariableTerminalVelocity.

Physics says that [[ArtisticLicensePhysics this really shouldn't work]], but you'll probably be too thankful that you're alive to care.

Compare with TakeMyHand. See also the InevitableWaterfall and NoOSHACompliance for places to fall from. When what's being dramatically caught in mid-plummet isn't a person, it's a DesperateObjectCatch.----!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]* ''Anime/{{Macross}}'':** ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'': Minmay falls from Hikaru's Valkyrie during the attack on South Ataria Island, and Hikaru not only does a power dive to save her, but manages to open the jet canopy, pull her in, close the canopy, and pull up in time.*** This was referenced in a similar scene in ''Anime/MacrossFrontier''. Said homage is slightly modified in that Ranka wasn't falling, but she was being pulled ''up'' into the vacuum of space due to a shattered dome, thus she was in danger of ending up ThrownOutTheAirlock.** A different sort of catching occurred in ''Anime/MacrossPlus''. After [[AcePilot Isamu]] (accidentally) caused [[TheRival Guld]] to lose control of his [[SuperPrototype YF-21]], Guld's neural link to the Valkyrie was severed, the thrusters flamed out, and he fell from the sky. Isamu [[{{Jerkass}} cheerfully commented]] on this until called out by his superiors, at which point he reluctantly dove beneath the [=YF-21=] and caught it with his own Valkyrie at the last possible second. Of course, he matched speeds with it first so neither Valkyrie was damaged from the impact.** In ''Anime/MacrossDelta'', Mirage pulls this off to save Freyja and Hayate. By catching ''the Valkyrie'' they're in.*** Mirage manages to do this ''twice'' more in episode 13 - the first time by grabbing Hayate and taking him to safety after he ejects, and the second time by stopping Freyja's freefall.* ''Anime/{{Simoun}}'': When Kaimu falls from the [[AirborneAircraftCarrier flying base ship]], Neviril and Alti use their Simoun to create a special Ri Maajon effect that stops her in midair, which lets them calmly pull her back aboard.* Kanbei rescues Kirara in ''Anime/SamuraiSeven'' by leaping after her as she falls.** But they at least try to avoid the NotTheFallThatKillsYou by having him grind his blade against the gears on a falling elevator to slow them down. How his sword is still in one piece after that? The world may never know.*** Given that [[KatanasAreJustBetter swords]] in that series can cut through giant robots and deflect energy beams, using them as elevator brakes is just par for the course.* In ''[[Manga/{{Appleseed}} Appleseed Ex Machina]]'', Deunan rams an enemy with her HumongousMecha, disengaging from it...about 300 meters above ''the ocean''. Luckily, she has two extremely reliable guys with jetpacks as her backup.* In ''Anime/MaiOtome'', Akane manages to do this with Arika, Nina, ''and'' Mashiro after their aircraft is knocked out of the air by a [[HumongousMecha Slave]].* In episode 6 of ''Anime/CowboyBebop'', Spike catches Giraffe on the Swordfish after he falls out a window.** A technique he'd had a chance to practice on Ein four episodes earlier, when the pooch threw himself off a bridge to escape a dognapper.* Haji pulls this in ''Anime/BloodPlus''. When Saya falls off of a building, Haji drops from much higher up, grows a pair of wings (you know, as they do), flies down, and catches her. Made slightly more believable by the fact that he basically launched himself at her, but even then...* Near the end of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'', just as Vita exhausts her magical energy and falls from a great height, Hayate reaches the room where Vita is and catches her badly battered body.* Played with in ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'': every time the girls are summoned to Cephiro, they pop into existence several kilometers above ground. They scream all the way down, until they're caught by Fyula, Clef's giant, [[SummonMagic summoned]] flying fish. They actually ''bounce'' on impact with Fyula's back before settling down, [[NotTheFallThatKillsYou none the worse for wear]].* Renton and Eureka pull this off at least twice in ''Anime/EurekaSeven''.* In the final episode of ''Anime/GateKeepers21'', Miyu catches Yukino after the latter is struck down in a BlastOut and falls from the top of a HumongousMecha. [[spoiler:Yukino is mortally wounded, however, and dies in Miyu's arms.]]* In ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'', Tabitha's dragon familiar Sylphid has done this '''at least once''' for Saito in the light novels and for Saito and Louise (a separate incident) in the anime -- as well as in the opening credits for the anime's third season.* The finale of ''Anime/SailorMoon [=SuperS=]'' has Moon and an unconscious Chibimoon falling to their deaths. After catching Chibimoon, Moon spends the rest of the fall trying to get her to wake up so that they can use the Golden Crystal to save them. When she finally does, the Golden Crystal gives them wings, which they use to land safely. It's a touching scene, as long as you ignore how long they spend falling.** There ''is'' some attempt at physics in this scene. Chibimoon is flung, unconscious and limp, off a huge floating platform; Moon jumps after her using her weight and the velocity of her dive to make up the distance between them. Chibimoon is a little girl no older than 7, so she's also light enough to be blown by the wind. By the time Moon catches her, they have matched velocity. But don't ask me how [[RuleOfCool transforming into Princess Serenity, flowing gown and all, helped here]].*** The transformation to her more powerful form may have enabled her to speed up even further to catch up with Chibi Moon. And then once she caught Chibi Moon, the flowing dress helped slow down their fall so that she would have more time to get Chibi Moon to wake up before they both went splat.* In ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', Negi and [[spoiler:Chao]] run out of magic power and start plummeting from their HighAltitudeBattle. They are saved by Satsuki, piloting a tramway car that Chao had converted into a ''[[FlyingCar flying restaurant]]''.* Happens often in ''Anime/SonicX'', except with Cosmo during her first appearance, where she hit the ground a good few moments before anyone found her...but her dress allowed her to land safely.** Also used in ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie'', with Knuckles gliding over to catch Sara after she falls out of Robotnik's aircraft.* In ''Anime/{{Pokemon 3}}'', Ash is knocked off the mansion by Entei, but is caught by his Charizard in a BigDamnHeroes moment.* Kaitou Kid in ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' has to do this from time to time by virtue of having a cape that turns into a hang glider. In movie 8, Conan uses it against Kid.* In ''Anime/VividredOperation'', Akane saves Aoi in this manner in the first episode, activating her MagicalGirl powers in the process.* ''Anime/HowlsMovingCastle'' has a very literal example: [[spoiler: Calcifer was a falling star and caught by a young Howl.]]* A particularly over-the-top example occurs in the finale of ''Anime/KillLaKill''. [[spoiler: Ryuko falls from orbit, initially slowed down by Senketsu as he slowly burns up. Afterwards, she falls head-first towards the ground. She's caught mid-air by Satsuki, who proceeds to skid backwards under the impact. Mako then joins in to help slow Ryuko down, followed by the Elite Four, Mako's family......and every single student. They all crash into the school building, where everyone ends up in a massive pile -- naked]]. Because it's that kind of show, physics doesn't mean a thing and everyone is perfectly fine afterwards. [[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]* Subverted with Franchise/SpiderMan and Gwen Stacy in ''ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied''. She is thrown from the George Washington Bridge by the Green Goblin and Spidey snags her with a strand of webbing to break her fall. She dies of a broken neck due to whiplash caused by [[NotTheFallThatKillsYou the sudden stop]].* Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}:** In ''Detective Comics #508'', Barbara Gordon alias Comicbook/{{Batgirl}} gets thrown off a building. [[http://67.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l8vbraq4Bs1qbujox.jpg Supergirl shows up out of nowhere, catches Barbara and transports her to safety]].** In ''New 52 Superman #6'', a Superman doppelganger drops Comicbook/JimmyOlsen off a building. However, Kara -who had come to Metropolis to talk with her cousin- [[http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/13/132823/4349582-kara-superman6.jpg catches Jimmy]].** In ''New 52 Comicbook/ActionComics #35'', Superman gets shot down and knocked down while flying back to Earth and falls to the planet. Then Kara streaks up to him and carries him to the ground.** In ''Comicbook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'', Supergirl and Bleez are flying together. Suddenly Bleez falls down, and Kara quickly grabs her hand and carries her to the ground safely.** In ''Comicbook/ManyHappyReturns'', Linda saves an unconscious Kara who has just been dropped by a pterosaur.** In ''[[Comicbook/{{Supergirl 1972}} Supergirl Vol 1]]'' #1, a serial killer manipulates a crane to lift a student and drop him onto a group of steel spikes, but Linda grabs the boy before he gets impaled.* Franchise/{{Superman}}:** In Creator/KurtBusiek's "Walking the Earth" storyline in Franchise/{{Superman}}, Kal-El Actually manages to stop a young girl from jumping in the first place. He still would've caught her if she had, but it seems especially sweet that he went up to talk to her instead of waiting for her to jump.** He does the same thing in ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'' #10, talking to a suicidal girl rather than waiting for her to jump.* Mentioned in ''Marvel Team-Up'' #20, where Comicbook/BlackPanther tries to catch a falling Comicbook/SpiderMan by hanging from the Avengers Quinjet and grabbing the hero as he passes by. He notes that if he misjudges Spider-Man's speed or mistimes the catch by even a second, both of them will be killed instantly. [[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]* Luke Skywalker being caught by the Millennium Falcon at the climax of ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', though he didn't have more than several feet to fall anyways once the Falcon was hovering beneath him. (The fall he just took ''getting'' to that point is another story...)** There's a variation in [[HandOfThrawn Vision of the Future]], when the Millennium Falcon is damaged, falling towards a planet's surface with the engines coming back online too slowly, and four [=TIE=] Interceptors carefully matched velocities around it before each one hit the Falcon with grappling mags, slowing the descent to the point where the [=TIEs=] could fly it to a small hangar inside a cave.* The Coruscant ChaseScene in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones''.** Although it's shown that Anakin flies under Obi-Wan with his FlyingCar and starts dropping at a rate ''just'' slower than Obi-Wan, allowing Obi-Wan to fall in at a relatively small speed.** ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'' had a field day with this one.* The Ewoks diving from far above ''in a hang glider'' to make a midair catch.* In ''Film/ArmourOfGod'', Jackie escapes the cultists' CollapsingLair by jumping off a cliff and landing on a balloon.* Used in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. They try to make it more reasonable by [[spoiler:Batman unfolding his cape and gliding down with Rachel, but there's not nearly enough time with the way the film is edited for them not to have at least some kind of injury when they land]].** This is averted later on when a mobster [[spoiler: says that he's too close to the ground to die, if dropped. Batman agrees and lets go, and both of the mobster's legs are broken when he hits the ground.]]* Spock halting Kirk's fall from El Capitan in ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier''...[[BroadStrokes although much of that film is officially dubious as to its canon status....]]** Kirk catching Sulu mid-air over Vulcan in [[Film/StarTrek XI]]. But at least they do take some physics into account and have Kirk's chute be unable to hold them both.* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'': ** At the end, Helen catches a falling Jack-Jack. Justified more than most examples because Helen used her elastic powers to slow down Jack-Jack's fall for several feet before actually stopping it.** This is {{deconstruct|ion}}ed in the beginning. A guy jumps off a building, Mr. Incredible catches him at an 90-degree angle, smashing through a glass window in the process. Mr. Incredible is [[HilaritySues sued]] for the resulting injuries.* Gandalf's escape from Isengard via Gwaihir Air Service in the first ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings''. Also counts as a SuicidalGotcha.* In ''Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction'', Jenna Elfman is hurled off the top of the Eiffel Tower, and Brendan Fraser leaps after her, busting out a grappling hook after successfully grabbing her. The movie goes in a different direction from the rather obvious ''Spider-Man'' element by having them swing right through some road stalls, getting stuck with a bunch of flowers, and landing comfortably at a roadside cafe, looking like they're really on a date...* Subverted in ''Film/IronMan'', where instead of catching the falling jet pilot, Iron Man just activates his jammed parachute.* Played painfully straight in ''Film/TheMatrix: Reloaded''. [[spoiler:Trinity decides that a fall from the 65th floor of a building is less lethal than dealing with [[TheDreaded an Agent]], so she jumps out a window]]. Moments before she hits the ground, Neo swoops in (at a speed so fast that he has a tornado of cars in his wake) and catches [[spoiler:Trinity]] in his arms, thus letting her only fall 64 1/2 stories instead of 65. Of course, Neo's status as "[[TheChosenOne The One]]" basically [[JustifiedTrope gives him the power of Fuck You Physics]] while in [[{{Cyberspace}} the Matrix]]. Which, of course, raises more questions...* Superman does this in virtually every movie in some form or another. In ''Film/SupermanReturns'', his catch of an entire powerless airplane somewhat inverts the usual trope in that it is the man who catches the vehicle.* ''Film/GoldenEye'': Mr. Bond rides a motorcycle off a cliff, skydives without a parachute to the open door of the airplane in a powered dive to oblivion, pulls himself inside, and pulls up.* Film/HarryPotter is saved by Dumbledore after falling off his broom in ''Prisoner of Azkaban''.** Justified, as AWizardDidIt. In the book at least it's mentioned that Dumbledore used a spell to slow Harry's descent, and presumably cast it right after Harry fell.*** Said spell was ''Arresto Momentum'', which presumably does ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin and slowed him down.* Towards the end of ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', Iron Man is falling through the dimensional portal, unconscious and with no power in his suit. [[Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk The Hulk]] leaps by, catches him, drags his hand down a nearby building to slow both of them to a Stark-safe velocity, ultimately cushioning Tony with his own body for the final 20 feet or so to the pavement.* Happens by accident in ''Film/TheFifthElement''. Leeloo dives off of a ledge to escape from the police and crashes through the top of Korben's cab.* ''Disney/WreckItRalph'' shows [[spoiler:Vanellope catching Ralph by [[TeleportSpam glitching]] her borrowed car under him after Ralph dislodges the masses of Mentos into the diet cola hot springs.]]* ''Film/TerminatorSalvation''. Marcus Wright drives a truck onto a bridge over a high canyon, but they're attacked by a flying Hunter Killer and the truck slams through the guardrail, knocking Kyle Reese and another child out the door. As they plunge into the canyon to their deaths, they're caught in mid-air by the giant robot they'd been fleeing earlier. So their lives have been saved...[[FateWorseThanDeath for the short term]].[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action Television ]]* In ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman'' episode "[[Recap/TheAdventuresOfSupermanS1E21TheHumanBomb The Human Bomb]]", Superman swoops in to catch ComicBook/JimmyOlsen after he falls off the ''Planet'' building's ledge. Jimmy is absolutely fine, despite having been falling very fast.* A first-season episode ("Soul Hunter") of ''Series/BabylonFive'' does this InSPACE with a ship-to-ship "catch". A mysterious small ship appears out of the jump gate on a collision course with the station. Sinclair launches in a [=StarFury=] to intercept. In an unusual use of real physics, he has to match the intruder's course, speed, and tumbling rate (so now ''both'' ships are set to collide with the station) in order to grapple it. It takes him two or three attempts to finally grab it, with Ivanova screaming in his ear to get out of there so that the station's defence grid can destroy the other ship before it hits, but once he does, the linked ships somehow lose both their velocity towards the station ''and'' their tumble. What makes the whole sequence crazy is the complex (and pretty accurate) manoeuvres needed to hook up the two ships, including the use of the 'Fury's 3-D thrusters, coupled with the sudden lurch back into this trope once they've linked up.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Radio]]* ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy.'' Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, and Zaphod Beeblebrox all land on giant sentient birds when they fall out of an enormous marble teacup. The birds lampshade this when landed upon, saying, "This is utterly ludicrous!"[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]* ''VideoGame/CaveStory'': Occurs in the normal ending to the game, where the player and a companion are both caught by a small flying dragon.* A variation occurs in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'''s Subspace Emissary mode, where several of the heroes jump out of a bomb-filled room and land in Captain Falcon's CoolCar. They're falling at enough of a height that they ought to be at terminal velocity, but ''Smash'' never really bothered with falling damage, what with the RuleOfCool and all.** Really, the terminal velocity for the story doesn't appear to fall under GameplayAndStorySegregation and is thus about 5 mph.** Also, Meta Knight pulls this off with Lucas and the Pokemon Trainer, ''right'' before they hit the ground. Although at least in that case, it seemed like Lucas was trying to psychokinetically slow their fall.*** Also, the Trainer had already recovered his Charizard at that point and could have used it to save them. Too bad he was unconscious...* In ''VideoGame/StarFoxAssault'', Peppy catches the falling ship of General Pepper with his own arwing, slowing the fall enough to save his life. Wolf also saves Fox this way, [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou since he wants to take him down personally]].* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', Terra's magic power vanishes, taking away her Esper half and its ability to fly. Setzer then dives his zeppelin-sized (and shaped) airship to catch her, flying fast enough to ''knock out everyone on board'' and [[ImprobablePilotingSkills apparently scooping her up on the bow of the "boat" part of the airship]] (which, aside from being a tenth of the size of the dirigible, hangs from the stern end of the ship.)* ''VideoGame/IllusionOfGaia'' parodies and subverts this one at the same time. After the second major dungeon, the hero Will falls from a floating continent, but luckily, his cousin Neil owns the only biplane in existence and flies up to catch him. Except he misses Will the first time! The second time he catches him, but [[strike:in doing so plunges into the ocean]] runs out of fuel before they reach land, causing them to crash in the ocean ''near'' an island.* Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog likes this one. In ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Sonic 2]]'', ''[[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Sonic & Knuckles]]'', and ''SonicAdvance'', Sonic/Tails manage atmospheric re-entry and survive by landing on the Tornado.* Played straight in ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}} Prime 3: Corruption'' during the first Ridley fight, which occurs as both combatants are free-falling down a fusion generator tunnel about sixteen thousand meters deep. Once Samus polishes off Ridley, Rundas, showing off his powers of ice flight, swoops down the tunnel, [[BigDamnHeroes catching her a few thousand meters from the bottom]], which also served as his EstablishingCharacterMoment.* Appropriately enough, ''VideoGame/BatmanVengeance'' actually had this as a recurring minigame, where the player would have to guide Batman as he dived to catch a falling character, switching between a diving-pose for speed, or a skydiving style spread-out pose for control, until you caught the target, whereupon Bats would automatically grapple to safety - 'twas pretty cool.* In the famous FPS ''[[VideoGame/{{Battlefield}} Battlefield 1942]]'', in a (staged?) gameplay clip, a pilot stalled his plane in a vertical climb and chose to bail out to activate his parachute. Fortunately for him, a two-seat dive bomber was conveniently flying passed a hundred feet below him, in perfect timing for him to hitch a ride.* ''VideoGame/EverythingOrNothing'', an original-story Bond game, has this as a basis for an entire level. Notable in that Bond, while freefalling in pursuit of the love interest, can navigate ''between'' rocky outcroppings. And aim and blast bad guys he is rocketing past.* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', Yuna summons Valefor ''in midair'' to catch her as she falls off the tower in Bevelle. Sure, physics might not work that way, but hey, it's ''Franchise/FinalFantasy''.* In ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}} 2'', Nowe seems to be in the habit of jumping off of high places on purpose simply because he knows that Legna will catch him. He also gets to play hero by doing this: Manah falls off a cliff, Nowe jumps off after her, lands on Legna, and the pair of them race downwards until they're beneath Manah, where Nowe catches her safely in his arms.* The ending of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' has Ada Wong jump down from a ledge. A few seconds later, a helicopter rises into view with Ada sitting inside it, having apparently fallen through the roof and, yes, the rotors.* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' has the beginning of Chapter 11, where Fang ''and'' Lightning summon [[TransformingMecha Bahamut]] to save the party after their airship is crippled* ''VideoGame/AdventureIsland III'' ending. Higgins and [[DamselInDistress Tina]] fall from the UFO, to be caught by Higgins' [[PowerupMount pet pterodactyl]].* Done routinely in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword''. Traveling is accomplished by either leaping off one of the {{Floating Continent}}s of Skyloft or catching an updraft from the surface world, then whistling for Link's [[GiantFlyer Loftwing]], who will swoop in out of nowhere to catch him without fail.* After the introductory level of ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando'', Ratchet summons his ship to do it to him.* Happens in the second mission of ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'': You're falling from a crashing airplane heading for Shaundi while simultaneously avoiding falling cars and shooting {{Mooks}}, and after you reach her, you jump through the window of the plane (as it comes crashing back towards you) and do it all over again.[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]* In a 2008 scene from ''[[http://www.alpha-shade.com/0Comics/pages.htm Alpha Shade]]'', a girl gets thrown off the deck of an airship during a firefight and a flier on a giant bird swoops down and tries to catch her. (Not sure if you can link directly to individual pages, but pages can be selected from a drop-down menu - this scene begins on Page 224.)* In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', Antimony falls off a bridge into a canyon; [[TheCavalry the TicToc birds swoop in and grab her in mid-air]]. Rather than snatching her up, they simply slow her descent, then unceremoniously drop her once they get to a safe height above the water.* A building swing variant occurs in [[http://www.shortpacked.com/2009/comic/book-10/01-this-man-this-manhattan/flammable/ this]] ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'' strip.* Gets used and {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/17p35 this]] episode of ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja''. The Doctor jumps off the SkyPirates' ship, so they chase after him and catch him in their "lifeboat".* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', as Rose is facing annihilation by meteor, her cruxite bottle falls into the river. She rushes to the waterfall and jumps to catch it in midair.** Immediately after grabbing the bottle, Rose herself is caught and saved by Jaspersprite, with scant seconds to spare.* In ''Webcomic/{{Spacetrawler}}'', both Emily and Growp get knocked out a window during a fight. Both of them snatch passing hoverbikes to stop their descent...and then crash their bikes into the ground.* In the Creator/DavidGonterman comic ''Franchise/SailorMoon USA'', Gonterman's AuthorAvatar at the time does this to Sailor Moon herself. What's worse was that this was done after Queen Beryl launched her from ''Tokyo to St. Louis''. And the worst Usagi suffered was passing out and a ravaged uniform. [[MST3KMantra It's best not to think of it too much.]]* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2004-03-15 it is not, in fact, necessary, whatever Pooch thinks.]][[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original]]* Sasha in ''Literature/GreekNinja'' slips from holding on to a Pegasus and lands in the hands of satyrs.* This is done twice in the ''WebAnimation/DSBTInsaniT'' episode 'Beach Brawl'. First is when Shawn catches Asia after Sand Snake knocks her into the air, second is when Bill 2 catches Whitney after Cell explodes.[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Sokka falls from Appa in the episode "Avatar Roku", and Aang has Appa dive to catch him. It at least made sense in that he wasn't injured this time, and they went into a dive and slowed down slightly when they were just below him. In the following episode, Appa catches all three main characters as they plunge over the InevitableWaterfall. Zuko is also caught in much the same way after falling from an airship during a battle with his sister Azula.* ''WesternAnimation/ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop'': In "The Treacherous Movie Lot Plot", Zippy catches the other mobsters in his plane as the mechanical ape destroys the other planes.* In the ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'' pilot movie, Booster catches XR this way.* ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' demonstrates that their version of Hawkman is not [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway a wuss]] by having him do this with ''the Batmobile''.* WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries does it somewhat ''right'' in at least one instance. In "Old Wounds", Batgirl gets knocked off the tallest building in Gotham by the Joker just as Robin arrives. Robin hits the ejector on his cycle and is propelled up to her. He grabs her just after the apex of his flight (where his velocity is effectively near zero), and deploys his GrapplingHookPistol, swinging them in an arc to a nearby roof. Arcs are the safest way to dump kinetic energy without a ''lot'' of padding at the bottom.* In the pilot of ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'', Baloo dramatically rescues Kit this way after he's been thrown off a pirate airship.* In an unusual case of the craft doing the falling part, the second season finale of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', "Starcrossed", has Batman piloting the Watchtower (the League's orbital base) on a kamikaze descent to destroy an alien engine. He's pulled out of the collapsing wreckage by Superman seconds before impact.** This is pretty much what Franchise/{{Superman}} ''does''. Word of advice: if you plan on killing yourself by jumping off a building, don't do it in Metropolis. If you're looking for an exclusive interview, on the other hand, by all means jump out of that 30th-story window...*** Parodied in ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'' when Perry tells a (depowered) Clark Kent that he's losing his edge and tells him he's fired unless he takes something out of his wife's play book. Clark immediately jumps out of the high office window...[[spoiler:and is caught by new hero Supernova, who Clark immediately presses for a story.]]** Superman (again) does it to Batman (again) after the Batplane is eaten by alien nanomachine dogs and his ejection seat is destroyed. Fortunately, Batman is smart enough to know he's got time and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unl8l8VdONw calmly calls for help over the radio]].** Dr. Light bails Batman out ''the second time he plummets in the same episode''.* In ''WesternAnimation/TheKarateKidTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Homecoming", Miyagi grabs Taki after she falls off a lantern line (which she was using as a tightrope) trying to get the shrine.* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' where Danny rescues Sam from falling to her doom from atop a train passing a tall bridge. She's also rescued in a similar manner by a cop hanging from a chopper in another episode, though we don't see it dive down to catch her in time.** Danny also saved Sam from a tightrope-induced fall in the same episode as the train.** Danny also caught himself in 'Identity Crisis'. * ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'': In "Mission of Gravity", Karai and the turtles get dumped out of an airship by Hun. Three of them deploy glider packs to arrest their fall (showing Donatello to be CrazyPrepared), while Leonardo dives to catch Karai, then deploys. It's slightly more realistic, as their fall ends with a curve from vertical to horizontal, which dumps their kinetic energy in a safer fashion.** This comes up no later than the second episode of [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012 the Nickelodeon cartoon]], where Don saves April from falling out of a helicopter. It doesn't make quite as much sense as the above example, but it certainly ''is'' [[RuleOfCoolcool.]] * In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', Starfire has caught ComicBook/{{Robin}} this way more than once.** And vice-versa, with Robin catching Starfire.** Done realistically when Robin catches Raven in "Birthmark." Slade throws Raven off a roof, and Robin swings by with his grappling-hook, catches Raven (with one arm no less), and then ''continues'' to swing until he can gently let her down on a nearby roof.* If you're talking about midair rescues from high places, look no further than ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}.'' A gargoyle catches a human who's fallen off a building at least every other episode.* WesternAnimation/ActionMan does this pretty often. Alex is an expert at the BuildingSwing, what with his superpowered reflexes, his endless supply of extreme-sport-type grapnels, and his strong arms for snagging the rescuee one-handed. Nothing like a CGI cartoon for making physics look optional.* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}}'', a falling Cheetara, having lost a battle with a FeatheredFiend, is caught by teammate Tygra [[InstantKnots using his whip]].* Subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' episode "It Came from the Nightosphere", where Finn falls after an assault on Marceline's dad and Marceline catches her trusty axe/guitar instead of Finn.* In ''[[Disney/TheRescuers The Rescuers Down Under]]'', Cody is accidentally knocked off of a large cliff by the giant eagle Marahute. However, she rectifies this mistake by swooping down and catching him on her back (as a thank you for freeing her and presumably as an apology of sorts). She later saves him again as well as Bernard when they fall off a waterfall.* A rather realistic version in the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' episode "Hunter's Moon," when Comicbook/{{Vixen}} has been dropped from thousands of feet above the ground. Vigilante flies an aircraft under her, and clearly matches her velocity - she actually has to reach down and grab onto the diving craft. Helping out is that Vixen has superhuman resilience and the vehicle is a spacecraft which almost certainly has Inertial Dampening.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]* Arguable TruthInTelevision: Early reconnaissance satellites would take photos and then have the exposed film on board; they had to physically return the film to Earth so the imagery-analysis guys could have it to work with. They did this by ejecting it in a reentry-proof capsule. If it were equipped to land, though, it would be far too heavy, so they designed it for mid-air recovery; it would deploy a parachute and an aircraft, generally a modified transport, would snatch it in mid-air. This would also avoid damaging the film. They were recovered over water; sometimes, they'd be pulled out of the ocean, although they were designed to sink automatically after a while so as to not fall into the wrong hands. At least, that's what the US did. Later on, the same technique was used when some unmanned probes took physical samples from comets or from the space medium on various missions; for example, there was the widely-publicized Genesis mission, where there was a slight problem with the descent sensor being installed upside down, so the capsule with the samples (it was a mission to sample the solar wind) never deployed its parachute, so instead of being retrieved in mid-air by a modified helicopter, it slammed into the Utah desert floor.[[/folder]]